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Topic: [Guide] Character Development (Read 2372 times)

VWH is a very unique experience in the way we view Roleplay. If you are new to Roleplay, This would actually be the best place to start. Communities will tell you "Strict RP is boring" when that is not the case, It is you that is boring. This isn't about strict Roleplay this is about what Roleplay really is and how it has been hijacked by this aura that Pen 1 and Godfather made of scripted life where you Roleplay positions in what they call "factions". There is no unique Character Building it is all based around your job. If you want to be a mafia man, You act tough, put on an Italian skin and your cool? Negative. This guide is to show new people the proper way to Roleplay so they don't get sucked in the Faction Criminal based mentality and to also help those who want to come to VWH but got introduced to Roleplay based on a "Don't Metagame, Don't Powergame" instead of a Character Building manner which this guide will primarily focus on.

Step 1: Create A Character

Lets begin with creating your character. First we shall pick a ancestry. Where is your character from? Is he Multi-Racial? Lets pick a Danish guy. We'll name him Emil Petersen. You can pick any name and be from anywhere, The choice is yours.

Next, You should pick an age and a small history of him. Was he born of a high standard? Or in a small mud hut place? Give a story for him, Its useful. That's pretty self explanatory.

Step 2: Pick Character Traits

So you got a name, And a origin? Is that it? Nope. Now we have to mold a character, His every trait, The way he reacts to things, His temper and such. Maybe he's a natural cook? Maybe he's Hot Headed? Maybe he's neurotic? Lets take Emil.

I'll make Emil..Daredevil - Daredevils seek the extreme side of life, taking risks and doing things that could harm themFrugal - Pretty much a cheap person, A coupon cutter.Angler - He has a natural thing for fishing, Giving him a natural interest and better performance.Kleptomaniac - Cannot stop themselves from hoarding objects

Emil will have a Danish accent. Because of Emil's traits, These will affect his way of thinking and life choices. Emil is the kind of guy that would pull up to somebody willing to race and speed down a highway, without fully thinking due to his Daredevil trait. He's also the kind of guy who when asked to donate to a cause, Would blow it off due to his Frugal trait. Emil's house consist of thousands of Baseball Cards piled up, Alot of doubles due to his Kleptomaniac trait. He is also a recreational Fisher due to his Angler trait. Do you see how every trait affects my character? I give Emil things that make him unique. This is not a chance to make a "Super Strong Italian Mafia Dude", That's not the point. Its to make unique Non Superman characters that you can enjoy Roleplaying.

Step 3: What exactly do I do in this world?

Roleplaying is basically taking on the role of a character you created, Now if you've fallowed the guide you have a character and his personality made, Or you have a base to build off of. Roleplaying consist of what your character would do. So lets say you've arrived into town and you need a place to live. Emil has just arrived into town, He doesn't go for a cab because of his Frugal trait instead he'd rather make the walk. He finds a cheap dirty small motel and also do to his Frugal trait he sleeps there. The next morning he gets up and begins to look for a job, Any job. Due to his Daredevil trait, He'd try about anything. He's offered a job fishing Bass by an English lad by the name of Norman Trottah, Speaking with a English accent, He acts like a pompous jerk but Emil needs the money and will do anything for it so he agrees to work with him. He spends the day fishing with Norman, Talking about his history. Emil being only 22 had not seen much of the world, He had moved to the city for new opportunities. The oddity of how the city came about. After the day was done. Emil decided to go for a drink down at the Pub with Norman. There he met Tracy Gold, She had a very deep voice, But barely spoke. She has a very intimidating look, And stared at him from behind the bar. Eventually Emil went back to the motel, Sat on the couch a bit and watched some tele, Snacked on some chips.

Step 4: Creating Goals

Roleplay can get boring without goals, Whether its to overthrow the Totalitarian Government and institute a democracy (That's all based on your characters traits aswell) or open a Restaurant these goals will help you continue to enjoy Roleplay. Even if its just a mini goal. For example, Emil wakes up after his long day fishing and decides to start looking for a apartment before he goes out fishing again. He goes door to door, Puts up posters. You can ask around and eventually he finds a lad named Dereck Hinland. He is a doctor at the local hospital, He's very nice, Family Oriented and very calm. He offers to share his Apartment with Emil for a small fee of Five Hundred a week (182 days IG= 1 year IRl) and agrees and decides he's going to need to get a side job without just fishing as he's going to need to pay this off and have side money. Emil has finished a daily goal! Its not much but he achieved something. Your character might not always reach a goal and that's okay. You don't always get what you want in real life. Do not mix out of your character to try to reach these goals, Its strictly Roleplay.

Step 5: How to properly use Roleplay commands, What to do and not to do

First of all, There are two different worlds. In Character and Out of Character. Out Of Chracter should not interfere with your In Character world or affect it. Anything said in Brackets is considered OOC, They are addressing you directly and not Roleplaying with your character in which you should respond in brackets by using /b, Which stands for Local OOC. There is Global and Local OOC, Local OOC is someone in your area speaking to you or someone else with brackets. Global OOC if activated is server wide that everyone can see. If someone harasses you OOCly and disrupts your Roleplay, Feel free to use /report to file a report againt the player.

Now to focus on /me's, Every action you make should be typed out in a /me, If you are fishing you would type a /me for whatever your doing so for example

/me grabs ahold of his bait can and flips the lid with his left thumb /me takes out a small worm between his fingers and latches on to the hook /me puts the bait can back down and gets ready to cast by extending his arms backward /me throws forward, casting the line.

Now to show how far it went, Which shouldn't always be really far as its Roleplay and not every cast will be perfect. You would use /do, /do is used to show situations, environments, character appearances and such.

/do The line lands rather far down the river, 30 KL.

This may be confusing but you will get the hang of it. There are some rules to Roleplaying that you must fallow to respect other people and not ruin there Roleplay, That is not to Metagame, Powergame or Deathmatch. Metagaming is mixing the IC and OOC world as we discussed before, They are two different worlds and dont affect each other. Powergame is basically, Not making your character superman or giving him unfair advantages over other players. Deathmatch means to kill without reason, Which if your Roleplay properly will not happen.

Step 6: Long Term Character Customization

In a always changing Environment, People change. People grow old, Grow in gray hair, There personality's change. Your character will progress and grow in this world. He will outgrow traits, Change his view on things. For Example, Emil after 50 years changed alot, He ended up fishing with Trottah and setting up a successful fishing business that generated him enough cash to buy a nice house along the river. Emil seeked the help of a Filipino Psychiatrist named Veronica Mabini who helped him control his Kleptomaniac tendencies, He ended up selling all his baseball cards. He got into a car accident in his 40's that almost killed him. He began to look at the world in a different way, and is less than a daredevil than he was. He began to study Airplanes in his older age and has an interest in now flying remote controlled airplanes he designs and flies at local parks, He's a bit of a genius on them. Emil progressed and grew in the city like everyone else, Life experiences made him different from when he was younger, But he's still Emil. This is not an excuse to morph your character into something totally different, This is about letting your character grow. Maybe he'll develop Cancer, Talk with a lisp, Become emotionally unstable after his wife dies. Its all up to you, Your god to your character.

Step 7: Final Thoughts

Now that you get the general jist of VWH you can see what were about. We are a always changing dynamic world where you can live out the life of a virtual character. We are the kind of server where you gain skills and create your own jobs instead of relying on already scripted jobs with "tasks". We believe this is the proper way to Roleplay and honestly most other servers are RPG servers where you Roleplay jobs and faction positions, not characters. We want a small but loving community where we each respect each other and just enjoy Roleplaying our unique characters that we have created. Be a small time farmer, A corporate CEO, A neurotic drunk, An angry guy who's pissed because his wife dumped him. You can do anything, The possibilities are endless. We give you the tools where if you want to go deep, You can go really deep. Welcome to VWH RP.

Have a nice day, and enjoy Roleplaying on Vampires, Werewolves, and Humans Roleplay

Wanted to share this with you guys, hope you enjoy it and can make use of it either way. Really worth while to look at.